Brotherly Emotion
by don't hate me cuz i'm liberal
Summary: “Chris?” Annabeth said into her phone, “I have to go. Something funky’s going down here.” JD, eventually.
1. Chapter 1

Brotherly Emotion

The meeting was going on its fifth hour when Will Bailey interrupted. Josh was standing by the whiteboard, scribbling something incoherent while Lou ate cold Chinese food and Donna pretended to listen. Leo, who had long since given up even pretending to pay attention, was watching Annabeth, diligently taking notes in the corner. Matt was slumped on a couch, snoring lightly, arms folded across his chest. Idly, Donna doodled on her legal pad, vaguely wondering if she could make it to the door before Josh noticed.

Josh knew that something had changed in his relationship with Donna. He had known from the moment Lou hired her, and she shook his hand with a cool smile that didn't reach her eyes. He watched something tighten in her face every time he forgot that she was a member of the Senior Staff and bellowed for her. He watched her giggle with Annabeth and Leo, and wondered when she had stopped speaking to him. So Josh was prepared for Donna having new friends—one of them possibly being Will. What he wasn't prepared for was the look of pure delight on her face when Will walked through the door.

"Will!" said Donna, leaping up from her seat and throwing her arms around his neck. "I missed you!" Will laughed as he folded his arms around Donna's waist. "I missed you too," he said into her hair. Startled, Matt jerked on the couch, flailed for a few moments, then fell to the ground heavily. Josh stood frozen by the white board, uncapped pen in his hand, glaring at Will Bailey's arm, draped over Donna's shoulders. "No, no," muttered Matt as he pulled himself to his feet, "No one help me up. I've got this under control."

Leo smirked at him from across the room, "All right there, old man?"

"I'll show you old man," Matt shot back, "You and me. One on one—it's on."

"Tempting," Leo grinned, "But for now I have to get my…whatever Annabeth is back to the hotel before she falls asleep."

"Hold it," Josh said, coming out of his Will-and-Donna stupor, "We're not done here yet."

"Yes," Lou said, tossing the empty take out cartons into the trash can, "We are. It's two in the morning, we've been at this since nine, and no one's listened to you for the past half hour. What is Will Bailey doing in our office at this hour?"

"Well," Will said, squeezing Donna's shoulders, "I hadn't seen Donna in a while. I was driving back from a late meeting, saw the lights on and thought I'd pay you all a visit."

"Whatever," said Leo, pulling Annabeth to her feet and holding her steady as she sleepily put her shoes back on, "We're leaving. I'll see you all tomorrow."

"I'm going too," said Matt, shrugging into his suit coat, "I'm going to go ice my ribs, not that any of you care, since I could cut the sexual tension in this room with a dull spoon."

"I'll walk you out, Congressman," Lou yawned, gathering files from the table and opening the door for Matt, "Have a nice night, everyone"

The door made a hollow noise, as it swung shut. And then there were three. It would have been awkward, Josh though ruefully, except Donna and Will didn't seem to notice that he was in the room. "When did you last eat?" Will asked Donna.

"Breakfast?" she shrugged.

"I'll buy you some cake and we can catch up," Will said, grinning at her as she shoved files into her bag and pulled her coat on.

"Chocolate?" she smiled at him, pulling her bag over her sweater as Will tied her scarf for her, then straightened her collar.

"You have to ask?" Will opened the door for her, and she turned back right before she walked through. "Later, Josh."

_Later, Josh?_ All those years of Donna tying his bowtie, and coming to him to "catch up" and loving her so much it hurt him, and suddenly he's become this? This—afterthought? Suddenly, he's struck with the urge to move, and so he rushes out of the door, just in time to hear Donna laugh, and watch Will slide his arm around her shoulders, cupping the side of her head as he bent down and kissed her hair. The marker in his hand dropped unheeded to the floor, and he watched Donna walk out of his life.


	2. Chapter 2

Brotherly Emotion 2

The next morning, everything was back to normal. Annabeth fought with Leo, Leo fought with Josh, Josh fought with Lou who was backed up by Donna, and Matt watched the whole thing with a bemused I-can't-believe-I-hired-these-people look on his face…all in all, back to normal, Josh thought. There was something that he couldn't put his finger on though—something in the air. There was a small smile lurking around the corners of Donna's lips. They settled back into the meeting they had abandoned the previous night, this time with a little more energy. They stayed on task for the first hour, but the wheels came off the wagon at around nine.

"Josh," barked Lou, practically stabbing him with her pen, "You're a complete moron."

"Thanks," he smirked, than turned back to the group, "So you all agree with me?"

A muffled squawk came from the corner in which Leo and Annabeth had sequestered themselves, and Annabeth waved her hand, writing frantically. Leo gave a long suffering sigh and said, "Annabeth would like to speak, once she's finished her thought process. What she would like even more," he looked pointedly at his thigh, "Is to stop clutching my leg like that. Annabeth, the conversations going to continue without you whether you like it or not. My leg is not the conversation brake."

She gave him a withering glare, then turned to the group and said, "Actually, I agree with Lou."

"Me too," said Donna, tapping her pencil on her legal pad.

"What else is new," Josh said snidely, "Matt? Your thoughts?"

"Well," said Matt, grinning and folding his arms across his chest in what had become known as his"pre-long speeches pose", "I'm so glad you asked, Josh."

"God please no," muttered Lou into her folded arms.

A cell phone beeped and they all dove for their phones. "Ha!" said Donna, emerging with a vibrating piece of plastic. Noticing the Congressman's raised eyebrows she said hastily, "I mean, oh know…better get this though. It could be a member of the press telling me that Vinick's been spotted making out with his assistant or something."

"Donna?" Lou said quizzically, "Isn't Vinick's assistant a man?"

"Exactly," Donna smirked, sashaying out of the room.

The meeting broke up fifteen minutes into Matt's pontificating, much to everyone's relief. Leo and Annabeth left to catch a plane, and Matt went to a meeting with his security advisors. Lou gathered her files, told Josh that she was going to go get something to eat, and left. When Josh left the room, he saw that Donna hadn't left. In fact, she was standing by the window at the end of the hall, giggling into her cell phone. "You _didn't_…oh my God…Will, you are so _brave_…just went up, right like that?" Noticing Josh, standing and staring at her with a highly attractive glare on his face, she turned and said, "Will, I've got to go. We'll catch up more tonight? See you then," and snapped her phone closed.

"More catching up?" Josh asked mildly.

"Yeah," she said, smiling affectionately, "So much has happened since Will and I last really spoke, you know?"

"It's been what, a month since the Russell Campaign broke up? How much has happened?"

Donna abandoned all attempts to be civil. "Josh," she snapped, yanking her coat on and stuffing her cell phone into her bag, "What is your problem?"

"_My_ problem?" he looked taken aback.

"Yes _your_ problem," she swung her bag over her arm and glared at him, "What do you have against Will. He gave me a job—a good one! He's my friend! What's your problem with me talking to him?"

"I don't have a problem with you talking to him!"

"Then why make snide comments about 'catching up' and thanks so much for bringing up that you won and I lost—_again._ As if you don't remind me of that enough already."

"Whoa," he said, holding up his hands, "I don't have a problem with you being friends with Will. I also didn't think that you and Will Bailey were on a level where you hugged and held hands and whatever, but far be it for me to judge, and I do not remind you about me winning and you losing all the time!"

"You don't have too!" tears welled in her bright blue eyes, and she took a step back from him, "It's in the way you talk to me, Josh. You yell for me to get you files like I'm still your assistant, and make Bingo Bob jokes every single day. If you want someone's opinion on an issue, you literally ask everyone else in the room before you ask me—even if it's press related! You make it clear, every single day that you think I should still be your assistant, content to type up your notes and organize your desk." A sob tore from her throat, tears skating down her cheeks as he stood shocked and rooted to the spot, "You don't think I should be here, Josh, and you haven't exactly been subtle about it."

"Donna," he said, reaching for her, but she shied away.

"Don't," she said, "I have some calls to make, Josh, and then I'm going to go find Lou." She turned and walked down the hall, leaving him broken and bewildered behind her.

In the wake of all that had happened, Josh found that he couldn't move, couldn't breath, and couldn't stop staring at her back.


	3. Chapter 3

Brotherly Emotion 3

They picked the meeting back up in the evening, this time armed with Italian food. Josh toyed with his manicotti, surreptitiously looking at Donna out of the corner of his eye. She, unlike he, did not seem to be the worse for wear after their fight—quite the opposite, in fact. She was looking at a folder with Leo, eating her salad and laughing at something Annabeth was saying.

"Right," said Lou, twirling a piece of spaghetti around her plastic fork, "I hereby call this meeting to order."

"Wait a second," Josh said, frowning, "I could have sworn this was _my_ meeting."

"It was," Lou said uncaringly, "But we're going nowhere fast, and I'd like to be done. If you would all turn to page ten, you'll notice some interesting polling numbers on the question of gay marriage. Thoughts?"

"I think we should duck this one," Josh put in, giving up on his food and leaning back in his chair.

"I disagree," said Donna, not even looking at him.

"Of course you do," he said, smiling superiorly.

"What is that supposed to mean?" she demanded, finally turning in her seat to glare at him.

"It means," he said, tossing his food in the trash, "That we had a fight this morning—about what, I still can't figure out, mind you—and this is your way of getting back at me."

Donna stacked her folders, laid them on the table and smoothed her hands over them. "We had a fight this morning because I pointed out your complete and utter lack of respect for me—an observation, I might add, not exactly disproved by the fact that I disagree with you, and your immediate reaction is that I'm trying to get back at you for something."

"Right," said Matt, glancing between them, "I agree with both of you. Donna, I'm going to speak in favor of gay marriage at some point, but not right now. Why not now, you ask? Annabeth?"

"Because," said Annabeth, smiling at them demurely, "This is 'National Security Week' and we are trying this week to do something we have, in the past, found insurmountable—and that is?"

"Stay on topic," Leo said, grinning at her fondly.

The meeting continued on, and Josh found himself dwelling more and more on his fight with Donna. Were the things she had claimed—shouted, really—true? They couldn't be true—he respected Donna, had felt dead in the weeks apart from Donna, admired Donna above anyone else, _loved_ Donna. He wasn't stupid—at least, not entirely. He knew without a modicum of doubt that he was completely in love with Donna, and had been for some time. He had even toyed with the idea that she had feelings for him as well. That was over though, surely. The one time he had made any sort of hint or overture, she had run. He winced just remembering it: _"And if you don't think I miss you everyday…"_ God but that had hurt. Knowing that he had been an asshole, but hurting too badly from her initial departure to do anything else, he had stared after her as she ran out of his office. He had made her cry. Again. You don't deserve her, he reminded himself. She deserved someone nice, and modest, and her own age.

Forcing himself back to the present, he noticed that everyone was standing. "So you really cracked a rib?" Leo asked Matt wonderingly.

"So it would seem," he said, shrugging gingerly.

"Almost makes me feel bad for laughing at you," Leo said, smirking.

"I'll bet," Matt returned wryly. Laughing, the two left the room together, arguing half-heartedly about Matt's bone structure. Lou and Annabeth both left with their cell phones plastered to their ears, Annabeth shouting and Lou smiling. And then there were two. He had just mustered the strength to apologize when her phone rang. Not even looking at him, she looked at the caller id, smiled and answered. "William," she said, grinning widely, "How did it go?" She laughed at whatever he said in response.

"I want to hear more later," she said, "But for now I have to go back to my office and actually do some work…okay yeah, I'll see you then…I'm so excited!...Love you too." She smiled fondly as she shut the phone, than noticed him staring. She sighed loudly, "What _now_ Josh?"

"You know," he said, increasingly angry, "I was going to apologize to you, really I was, but it's come to my attention that you lied to me."

"What?" and he had to admit, she did look genuinely puzzled.

"You know," he said, waving his arms wildly to emphasize the point, "With the smiling and the 'I love you'—you told me that you were just friends!"

"We are," she snorted elegantly, "I'm not entirely sure what you're issue is, but get over it fast, Josh."

"I will get over it when I feel like it—which should happen around the time you come clean about whatever—_thing_ you have with Will!" He yanked his hands through his hair, turned away from her and prepared to storm out.

"Josh," she said from behind him, "Though I've pretty much given up ever understanding you, you're making even less sense than you usually do, and I don't like what you're implying!" She grabbed her files from the desk, and marched past him into the hallway.

"Look!" he yelled after her, "Just admit that you're in love with Will!" He strode out after her, slamming the door on his way out, and stopped short and stared. Donna, Matt, Leo, Lou, Annabeth and six members of the Secret Service stared back at him. "Chris?" Annabeth said into her phone, "I have to go. Something's funky's going down here."

Cliffhanger sort of…dum da DUM…


	4. Chapter 4

**Brotherly Emotion 4**

"_Look!" he yelled after her, "Just admit that you're in love with Will!" He strode out after her, slamming the door on his way out, and stopped short and stared. Donna, Matt, Leo, Lou, Annabeth and six members of the Secret Service stared back at him. "Chris?" Annabeth said into her phone, "I have to go. Something funky's going down here."_

There was complete silence for a moment than, "You're in love with Will, Donna?" asked Matt, looking both mildly surprised and mildly interested.

"No," she said adamantly, "I'm not."

"Okay," said Annabeth slowly, "But then Josh with the yelling…"

"Josh," said Donna breezily, "Is a complete moron."

"Hey now," he protested, still angry, "I'm standing right here."

"Yeah," she said snarkily, _(a/n it's a word!)_ "I'll let you know when I start caring."

Josh took a step towards her, glaring angrily, "That was uncalled for."

"No," she retorted, stepping right up to him, "What you said was uncalled for."

"Hey!" said Will, stepping out of the elevator, "What's…going on?" he trailed off as he took in the scene before him. Things got even more awkward in that moment—if it was really possible.

"Ok," said Josh, smirking at Donna, "So then explain this to me—if you're not dating Will, than why, pray tell, did Matt comment on the sexual tension when he showed up the other night?"

"I was talking about Leo and Annabeth, you dumbkiss," retorted Matt, wincing as he adjusted his bag on his shoulder.

"See!" Annabeth said, turning to Leo triumphantly, "I was right! We do have tension!"

"I really have no idea what's going on right now," Will commented, "But I'd like to point something out. Sure the Vice-President lost, and he may lack certain, you know, Presidential qualities and all that, but I can say with certainty that he has never called anyone a 'dumbkiss'."

"Well, he's never worked with Josh," Lou put in wryly.

Silence reigned for a moment, than Leo broke it by saying, "Right. I'm leaving."

"Me too," said Annabeth, smiling at him.

"Whatever," he said, turning and walking to the elevator with her. Though his words—or word, as the case was, might have been a little harsh, everyone watched as his hand came up and rested on the small of her back, guiding her forward.

"If you two wanted to avoid reporters when you, you know, enter the hotel together, it might not be the worst idea in the world," Donna called after them.

As Leo and Annabeth moved to step into the elevator, a woman stepped out. "Kate," said Will eagerly, stepping forward and taking her hand, "Kate, this is the one I wanted you to meet. Kate Harper, Donna Moss." As the two women shook hands, and Josh's confusion grew, Lou exited, leaving Matt in a hallway increasingly thick with tension.

"Kate," said Donna, smiling warmly, "It's so good to meet you. I've heard so much about you."

"I've heard quite a bit about you," Kate returned, nudging Will affectionately, "And I've got to say, I'm still unclear on the relationship between you two."

"Oh," said Donna, laughing easily, "That's easy—I'm the annoying younger sister Will wished he had."

Will made a face at her and said, "Something like that, brat."

"Wait a second," said Matt, his face reflecting Josh's own confusion, "So Donna—you and Will are like, platonic best friends or something? And Kate and Will are dating? Do I have that right?"

"Yeah," said Donna, stuffing her cell phone into her bag, "That's right."

"Okay," said Matt slowly, "But then why was Josh yelling something about you and Will and love…"

"Josh's a moron," said Donna, "But then, we already knew that."

"Right," said Will uneasily, "So Kate and I are going to go now."

Will and Kate left, waving and looking between Josh and Donna uneasily. "I'm going too," said Matt, staring at his shoes, "And just so you know, if I were to make a comment about sexual tension right now, I'd be talking about you two."

Final Chapter coming soon!


	5. Chapter 5

**Brotherly Emotion 5**

Mmk…here's the deal with the Donna meets Kate thing. Last year, I didn't watch the West Wing. At all. Because it was bad. Thanks to everyone who told me that they had already met—willing suspension of disbelief for everyone else.

_Will and Kate left, waving and looking between Josh and Donna uneasily. "I'm going too," said Matt, staring at his shoes, "And just so you know, if I were to make a comment about sexual tension right now, I'd be talking about you two."_

They stood there for a moment, staring at each other. Donna, tired and at the end of her rope with Josh finally broke the silence. "Well?" she demanded.

Startled, he shoved his hands into his pockets and attempted to look blasé, "Well what?"

"You're unbelievable!" she said, throwing her hands in the air in frustration.

"Well," he acknowledged, smirking.

"No," she said, stabbing him in the chest with her finger, "Don't do that, Josh. You've been a complete and total asshole to me, this entire campaign. You _clearly_ don't think I'm qualified for my job, and you've spent the past forty eight hours obsessing about a relationship that I don't have with Will! You don't get to smirk and try to bring the banter now. It's not that easy."

"What do you want from me?" he asked, throwing his hands in the air.

"An apology would be nice."

"Fine," he said tightly, "I'm sorry that I've been treating you like my assistant. I assure you, it hasn't been intentional. I'm tired and strung out, and as you may have noticed, you're not the only one I yell at right now."

"No," she interrupted, "I'm not, but I'm the first one you yell at."

"Right," he conceded, "Should I continue?"

"Please," she said, a small smile appearing at the corners of her mouth.

He took a deep breath, started to speak, and blew it out in a sigh. "Donna," he said abruptly, running his hands through his hair in frustration, "If we're playing true confessions and I'm going to apologize for everything I've ever done to you, could we sit down somewhere? I'm tired, and you probably are too."

"Yeah," she said, her gaze softening, "Come on, Lou's office has a couch."

"Lead the way," he said, gesturing her forward.

"Harvard and Cookie Monster are on the move," the Secret Service agent standing near the door said as they passed. Donna paused mid-step to glare at him, "Am I ever going to get a code name that makes sense?" she demanded.

Josh snickered when the guard didn't answer her, making her turn the glare on him. "I'm still mad at you, Joshua," she said.

Donna flopped on a desk chair as soon as they entered the office, motioning Josh over to the couch, "You were saying something about true confessions?"

"You sure you want to do this?" Josh asked, pinching the bridge of his nose and sighing, "Because once this is all out there, Donna, we can't take it back."

"We can't keep going like this, Josh," she said, sighing.

"Fine," he stood abruptly, "I'm in love with you. I have been for quite some time now, and yeah, I didn't want you to leave me, Donna, but not for the reasons you think. I just…couldn't deal with you leaving me. There was always something, you know? There was never an action-free moment when I could sit down, look at my future without you and not see myself collapsing. So it's out there now, Donna, and I can't take it back," turning and looking at her, pale and trembling in the half-light, he smiled a little at her obvious shock, "How's that for a change of topic?"

Donna stood on trembling legs and walked to him, silent on the couch, heart in his hands, "It's a nice change of topic, Josh," she said, sitting beside him," It so happens that I'm in love with you, too."

"Donna?" he said, turning her head to face him, "I'm going to kiss you now, and then I'd really like to leave this office, and not return for about twelve hours."

"Okay," she smiled, "But we're going to be late for work tomorrow."

"Ask me if I care," he murmured, leaning down to kiss her. It was a nice kiss, soft and deep, and Josh tried to remember when he had felt better in his life. Maybe not ever, he mused, as a lack of oxygen forced him to break the kiss, and he rested his forehead against Donna's. Smiling, Donna got up from the couch and held out a hand to him. He grinned up at her, dimples flashing as he took her hand and followed her home.

"Where's Josh?" Matt yawned as he threw himself into a chair the next morning.

"Don't know, don't care," Lou answered, breezing into the room and setting a folder down in front of him, "But I'm thinking that it's no coincidence that I can't find Donna this morning, either."

Annabeth was laughing uproariously as she and Leo strolled in. "Hold on a sec, Josh," Leo said into his cell phone, "I think that Matt and Lou should hear this too." He pushed the speaker button and set the phone down on the middle of the table.

"Aww, come on, Leo," Josh whined through the static, "Do I really have to do this again?"

"Josh," said Leo, wheezing as he laughed, "Really, everyone should hear this."

"Fine," Josh said petulantly, "Donna and I won't be in to work today. We have food poisoning."

"I don't know, Josh," said Matt, smirking at Leo, "You sound healthy enough to me."

"What are you people, doctors?" Josh barked into the phone.

"Josh," said Leo, wiping tears of laughter off his face, "Repeat for Matt and Lou exactly what you told me this morning."

"Leo," Josh pleaded.

"Oh for God sakes, Josh," they heard Donna say in the background.

"Fine," said Josh, "But you should all know I'm only doing this because Donna's not wearing much right now."

"Josh!" Donna screeched.

"Yeah," he snickered, "If I go, you go. Here's the deal: We're not coming in today. On the record, we have food poisoning, and off the record, I talked Donna into playing hooky because, really, eight years? It's ridiculous, I know, but I spent eight years being in love with Donna and having to be completely hands off. Goodbye."

They heard the phone click off, and Leo broke the silence, finally managing to gasp out, "It was funnier the first time, mainly because Josh kept on trailing off midsentence—Donna was being, distracting, shall we say?"

"Eight years," Matt whistled, "Yeah, I think we can give them the day. Lou, start the meeting."

**THE END**


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